Press release
The excellent result for May 2011 was comfortably exceeded. This growth is in phase with the level at the beginning of the year and seems not to have suffered from a very unfavourable base effect, contrary to April. Over the first five months, watch exports were up 15.2% to 8.2 billion francs.
All main materials saw their value increase in relation to May 2011. Gold watches made the strongest contribution by far to the general upturn, while steel and bimetallic products lagged slightly behind. The total number of timepieces remained stable, held back by the category of other metals (mainly aluminium) which recorded a decline.
The different price segments presented a mixed picture in May: two of them lost ground slightly while the other two recorded a significant increase. Timepieces costing less than 200 francs (export price) and those in the 500-3,000 francs category fell by several points both in value and volume terms. Watches between 200 and 500 francs recorded an increase in volume terms of 14.4%. Above 3,000 francs, value increased by 28.7% and volumes by 17.9%. The difference between these two rates is due to significantly higher growth in the highest price segments.
The trends evident in previous months continued on the main markets for Swiss watch exports. Growth continued to slow in Hong Kong, while remaining at a high level, as was the case in China. This trend is likely to be confirmed in the months ahead, not least because base effects will be particularly unfavourable. The United States maintained its steady growth. France remained negative, while Italy confirmed its better situation. Japan meanwhile recorded the highest monthly increase for many years.
Full statistics of the FH (Federation of the Swiss watch industry)
